Will Muschamp says no players have left Florida, talks recruiting

His defensive coordinator-to-be Dan Quinn just helped Seattle Seahawks beat the Saints, and incoming offensive coordinator Charlie Weis will guide the Kansas City Chiefs against Baltimore.

Those two coaches won’t be in Gainesville until their seasons end, but Muschamp said they’re already doing their jobs.
“I think it’s great,” Muschamp said prior to being introduced at the Florida basketball game tonight. “We’re watching the Gator coaches coach tonight and tomorrow. I think that’s exciting.

“If I’m a high school football player and I have aspirations of playing on the next level, which most kids do, they’re going to come to a great institution at the University of Florida, they’re going to get a great education and they’re watching their future coaches coach and coordinate in the National Football League in the playoffs. That’s pretty exciting.”

— Muschamp still has one vacant assistant position to fill and plans to do so this week. He has at least one candidate in mind, but has been busy recruiting. “We’ve got some dead time coming up this week, and I’m going to talk to some people this week,” he said.

— As far as recruiting, Muschamp is not allowed to talk about specific players, but said he and his new staff are starting out at a disadvantage because other staffs have been recruiting the same players for years. He didn’t mention it, but Florida State would be an obvious school the Gators are trying to catch.

“We’re coming in here in a month’s time and trying to flip a decision or convince them that Florida’s the best place,” Muschamp said. “But deep down, this is a great place; a lot of people want to be here. We’ve had a great response.”

— Muschamp downplayed the story circulating the media (and furthered by Weis’ comments this week) that Weis’ high school son was the big link between Weis and the Gators. Instead, Muschamp said, it was more about Muschamp wanting Weis and Weis wanting to be at Florida.

— Muschamp seemed slightly irritated by a question asking whether he was surprised he could pull Weis from the NFL. “No,” he said. “It’s Florida. It’s a great place. A lot of people want to coach here.”

— Muschamp on why Weis was a good hire: “I wanted someone with pro and college experience. I wanted an outstanding play-caller and a great developer of quarterbacks, and there’s none better than Charlie Weis.”

— Muschamp on why Quinn was a good hire: “Dan’s as good a defensive line coach as I’ve ever been around. He and I were together at the Miami Dolphins. Jason Taylor texted me the night before we announced him, realized we’d hired Dan, and was shocked that we were able to get Dan here. That’s how much he thought of Dan as a coach, how he helped him further his career. He was NFL Defensive Player of the Year under Dan’s tutelage.”